B/X Spell List Overhaul: Cleric spells, level 3

Here's another revised spell list that ended up substantially altered from its B/X origins.  As before, italicized spells have been tweaked from the original versions, bold denotes spells adapted from other editions or clones, and bold italics indicate a new spell of my own creation.  Asterisks indicate a reversible spell.

1. Circle of Truth
2. Cure Disease*
3. Holy Flame*
4. Locate Object
5. Remove Curse*
6. Sacred Oath
7. Speak with Dead
8. Spiritual Bond

1. Circle of Truth

Range: 0

Duration: 3 turns

For the duration of this spell, no creature within a 15 foot radius of the cleric may knowingly tell a lie.  Those within the circle are aware of the compulsion, and may choose to remain silent rather than speak the truth, or evade answering a question or omit details, so long as they believe everything they actually utter to be true.  Note that the spell affects all creatures, friend or foe, within its area, including the cleric himself.

3. Holy Flame

Range: Touch
Duration: 3 turns or special

When cast on a weapon, the Holy Flame spell calls forth an aura of white fire from the weapon, causing an extra 1d6 points of damage to any undead or evilly enchanted creature, and any adherent of an evil faith.  In addition, the wielder of the flaming weapon is able to Turn Undead as a cleric of 2nd level; if the wielder is a cleric, he or she turns as if two levels higher than his or her actual level. While the spell lasts, the weapon sheds light as the 1st level Light spell, and blazes more fiercely the closer it is to evil creatures.

The spell may also be cast on a normal combustible material, such as firewood or oil.  The Holy Fire used in this way must remain stationary, but actively radiates the Turn Undead power of the cleric who cast it in a 30' radius.  Non-undead evil creatures feel nauseated and uneasy within the light's radius, suffering a -2 penalty to all actions.  The spell lasts as long as the fuel, e.g. if cast on a pile of wood that would normally burn for 4 hours, then the spell lasts 4 hours.  The maximum duration is 3 turns per level of the caster.

The reverse, Unholy Flame, produces a sooty, blood red flame.  It causes extra damage to living and good creatures, and permits the wielder to control undead rather than turn them.

When cast in stationary form, Unholy Flame calls all undead creatures within a 240' radius to converge upon it.  It causes the same uneasiness in good creatures that the normal form inflicts on evil ones.

4. Locate Object

The range is increased to 240'; otherwise, the spell functions as described in the Expert Rules.

6. Sacred Oath

Range: 10'
Duration: 1 day per level

By administering a Sacred Oath, the cleric binds a living creature to fulfill its word.  The Oath can be to take some action, or to refrain from taking an action.  In either case, contemplating breaking the Oath causes the subject to feel a great unease and anxiety.  Actually breaking a Sacred Oath causes the faithless creature to be cursed in a manner specified in the wording of the oath itself.  A character who swears, "I will not reveal the location of the treasure, may I be struck blind if I do," will find himself blinded.  The Oath may be as simple or as complex as desired, and may include time constraints.  If the subject makes a sincere effort to fulfill the Oath but fails, the conditions are still considered to be met, and the curse does not take effect.  Only a subject who willingly swears the oath is bound by it.  An oath sworn under threat of bodily harm is invalid; for example, if the cleric or his allies threaten to kill the character or someone important to him if he does not swear, the Oath has no effect.  However, the cleric may make offers of aid contingent upon taking the Oath without violating this condition, even if refusing to render aid would result in injury or death.  If aid is promised, however, it must then be given, or the Oath is null and void.

A Sacred Oath supercedes the effects spells such as Charm Person; breaking the Oath is considered to be strongly against the creature's nature for purposes of charm effects.

7. Speak with Dead (adapted from Mentzer Expert Rules)

Range: 10'
Duration: 1 turn

This spell enables the cleric to ask three questions of a deceased spirit if the remains of its body are within range.  A cleric of 7th level or less may question a spirit dead up to four days, one of 8th to 10th level up to four months, one of 11th to 13th level up to four years, and at 14th level and above an unlimited amount of time.
The spirit will answer in a language understood by the cleric, but if their alignments differ the spirit may answer in riddles.  The spell lasts for 1 turn; if the three questions have not been asked within this time, any remaining questions are lost.  A spirit will only answer the questions of a particular cleric once per day at most.

8. Spiritual Bond

Range: Touch
Duration: 1 day

When this spell is cast, a bond is formed between the cleric and a living creature, linking them across distances.  The cleric is aware of the physical and emotional state of the subject, including injuries, diseases, poisons, etc. and may cast spells centered on the subject, no matter the distance separating them.  Thus the cleric could cast a Cure Wounds spell on a bonded fighter from across a battlefield or an even greater distance, without needing to touch him.  Harmful spells can be cast on the subject too, if the cleric so chooses, and the bond imposes a -2 penalty to any saving throw normally allowed.  Spiritual Bond requires the consent of the subject, and has no effect on an unwilling target.


Spells that didn't make the cut

Continual Light: Subsumed in the description of the 1st level Light spell, found here.

Growth of Animals: Really more the province of druids or elves than traditional clerics.

Striking: Replaced with the more versatile and flavorful Holy Flame.

B/X Spell List Overhaul: Cleric spells, level 2

The 2nd level cleric spell list gets a pretty extensive makeover.

1. Augury
2. Dilute Poison
3. Hold Person
4. Iron Will
5. Resist Fire/Resist Cold
6. Silence 15' Radius
7. Vigilance
8. Water Walk

1. Augury (adapted from Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion)

Range: 0

Duration: 3 turns

The Augury spell allows the cleric limited vision into the future with regard to some proposed action.  The spell informs the caster whether the action is likely to be beneficial, harmful, or neutral to the caster's party.  The results may be cryptic, but the general tenor should be clear.  For example, if the party is considering opening a door in the dungeon, and the DM knows that the room beyond is the lair of a very wealthy red dragon that the party has little chance of defeating, the spell might give the result "Greed beyond skill meets a fiery death."  The spell can only "see" 3 turns into the future, so only consequences within that time frame are taken into account.

2. Dilute Poison
Range: Touch
Duration: 4 rounds

This spell weakens deadly poisons, increasing a poisoned character's chances of survival.  It must be cast either during the round the poisoning occurrs or the round immediately following.  Damage from the poison is divided by 4 and spread over 4 rounds, including the initial round of poisoning.  In the case of poisons that are normally lethal (save or die) the damage is considered to be equal to the character's entire hit point total.  Each round thereafter, the poisoned character receives another saving throw vs. poison to avoid that round's damage.  Failure results in loss of hit points and a cumulative -1 penalty to all actions.  The lost hit points and penalties cannot be recovered by magical healing except a Neutralize Poison spell; they persist for a full day.

In the case of non-damaging poisons such as the venom of a giant centipede, the duration or other effects may be applied in quarters.
 
For example: A fighter with 20 hp is poisoned by a trap and fails his saving throw, but the party's cleric reaches him the next round and casts Dilute Poison.  Damage per round is 1/4 of the fighter's total of 20, or 5 hp.  The fighter takes 5 hp damage the initial round, and also incurs a -1 penalty to all actions.  (The first saving throw was already failed, which made the Dilute Poison spell necessary in the first place.)  He fails his saving throws the next two rounds, taking 10 more points of damage.  Fortunately, he makes his last save, and survives, with 5 hp remaining and a -3 penalty on all actions for a day.  

Note that if the character is not at maximum hp at the time of poisoning, even failing one saving throw can still be lethal.  In the example above, if the fighter had only 14 of his 20 hp left at the time of poisoning, he would have died.

4. Iron Will

Range: 0 (cleric only)

Duration: 2 turns + special

While the spell of Iron Will is in effect, the cleric is able to resist all mind-controlling and mind-reading effects, including charms, sleep, quest spells, geases, confusion, and ESP. The effect of such spells is deferred for 1 round per level of the caster; if the mind-affecting spell's duration has not expired at that time, it takes effect then, subject to any saving throw normally allowed. The duration of this resistance is subtracted from the total duration of the mind-affecting spell.

For example, a harpy uses its charming song against a 4^th level cleric under the effect of Iron Will. The song has no effect at all on the cleric until 4 rounds have passed; during those rounds the cleric may act normally. At the end of those 4 rounds, the cleric must make the usual saving throw vs. spells to resist the charm.

5. Resist Fire/Resist Cold

Range: Touch

Duration: 1 day

This spell may be memorized in either of two forms, Resist Fire or Resist Cold.  For the duration of the spell, the target is completely immune to normal fire or cold, respectively.  Additionally, the spell will absorb 3 points of damage from magical fire or cold for each level of the caster.  For example, a Resist Fire spell cast by a 4th level cleric will absorb 12 points of damage from a Fire Ball or a red dragon's breath.  The spell lasts until it has absorbed its maximum amount of damage or 1 day, whichever comes first. 

7. Vigilance

Range: Touch

Duration: 2 turns per level

While under the effect of this spell, the recipient's alertness is heightened, and the need for sleep is suspended. The subject is immune to Sleep spells and any other spell or effect that would otherwise force it into a state of unconsciousness or unawareness. If the subject is alone or in relative quiet it cannot be surprised. In a party, the chances of surprise are reduced by 1 in 6.

8. Water Walk

Range: 0 (cleric only)

Duration: 6 turns

This spell enables the cleric to walk on water as if it were solid earth.  The movement of the water's surface affects the ease with which the cleric may walk upon it.  Turbulent waters may require Dexterity checks or saving throws vs. paralysis to avoid falling, as the DM deems appropriate.  Walking on heavy surf is as impossible as walking on the surface of an avalanche in progress.  If the cleric falls or is knocked down, he or she will float as if swimming, but it is still quite possible to drown while the spell is in effect.  There is no weight limit other than the cleric's maximum encumbrance.

Spells that got the old heave-ho:

Bless: The cheesy +1 bonuses to hit, damage, and morale just aren't worth expending a precious spell slot.

Find Traps: I don't see how this really fits into the purview of a religious crusader or spiritual mystic.  I'm not overly concerned about niche protection for the thief class, but I'm also a believer in allowing any character to search for most kinds of traps, so this spell is expendable.

Know Alignment: If Lawful is always good and Chaotic is always bad, then this spell is the ultimate spoiler of NPC motives, mystery, and intrigue.  If alignment doesn't always indicate motives, it's next to useless.

Snake Charm:  Such a narrow niche spell doesn't really need to take up one of the eight slots on the primary spell lists.

Speak With Animal: Again, this doesn't fit my vision of the cleric.  It would be more at home in a spell list for druids and/or elves.

B/X Spell Lists Overhaul: Cleric spells, level 1

In the not-too-distant past, I took a look at the spells of B/X D&D, both cleric and magic-user.  While there's a lot of good stuff, there's some room for improvement too.  Doing so entails retooling some spells to be more useful, and replacing some of the worst ones with better ones, either brand new or adapted from the cream of other editions and their clones and supplements.

First up, naturally enough, are the 1st level cleric spells.  I'm a fan of the tight lists of B/X as written, so I'm going to stick with the format of eight cleric spells per level.  (The higher level lists will need to be padded to bring their totals up to the standard 8.)  I also want to tighten the focus of cleric spells to center on matters of morality and ethics, spirituality, enduring hardship, and healing, leaving most of the miscellaneous effects and esoterica to students of the arcane.  These spell lists should have the appropriate "white magic" feel for a white mage or white witch class, too. 

Spells in italics have descriptions altered from the rules as written, as detailed below.  Spells in bold are adapted from clones, possibly with modifications, also detailed below. Bold and italics indicates a spell of my own devising.  Asterisks, as always, denote reversible spells.

1. Concord*
2. Cure Wounds*
3. Detect Evil  
4. Light* 
5. Protection From Evil
6. Purify Food and Water*
7. Remove Fear*
8. Sanctuary*

 1. Concord*
Range: 0
Duration:1 turn

The Concord spell subtly influences persons and creatures affected to seek peace and agreement with others.  The spell affects creatures within a 10' radius of the cleric.  It may be used on all creatures within the area of effect whose Hit Dice individually do not exceed the level of the cleric, or on a single creature within the area whose Hit Dice are up to twice the cleric's level.  The cleric need not speak in a language understandable to the targets, though this of course will facilitate greater cooperation.  The first reaction roll made for the affected creatures is adjusted one step in a positive direction; thus "immediate attack" is upgraded to hostile, hostile to neutral, neutral to friendly. Additionally, affected creatures are prevented from attacking for one full turn.  The cleric himself is technically unaffected by the spell, but must deal in good faith with the affected creatures, or the spell is immediately nullified and a new reaction roll is made, adjusted one step in a negative direction.

Undead, constructs, and mindless creatures are immune to this spell.

The reversed spell, Discord, heightens tensions and enmities between the affected creatures, adjusting their reactions to one another one step in a negative direction.  All creatures within range whose Hit Dice do not exceed the cleric's level are affected, and may be turned against one another without respect to faction or allegiance.  Depending on the nature of the creatures and the context of the encounter, hostilities may manifest in verbal altercations rather than physical combat.

2. Cure Wounds*

As given in the standard spell description, this spell heals 1d6+1 hit points of damage to a creature touched by the cleric.  It may also be memorized and cast at a  higher level, if a higher level spell slot is available.  For each level above 1st, add 1d6+1 points of damage to the roll for hit points healed, to a maximum of 7d6+7 if cast as a 7th level spell.  For example, casting Cure Wounds as a 4th level spell will heal 4d6+4 points of damage.

The reversed spell, Cause Wounds, inflicts the same amount of damage to a creature touched.  If used in combat, this requires a standard attack roll, but if this misses, the spell remains active and the cleric may attack again until the spell is discharged or one standard turn (10 minutes) has passed, at which time the spell dissipates harmlessly.

4. Light*

This spell functions exactly as in the Basic Rules, but also subsumes the function of Continual Light if cast as a 3rd level spell.  Rather than being truly permanent, the Continual Light lasts for 1 day per level of the caster.  Additionally, the cleric may only have one Continual Light in existence at a time; if another is cast, the previous one is dispelled.

6. Purify Food and Water*

The reversed spell, Befoul Food and Water, causes an amount of food or drink equal to that affected by the normal spell to become spoiled and unfit for consumption.  Consuming them anyway causes a character to suffer terrible nausea and fever for 1d4 days, inflicting a -4 penalty to all actions.


7. Remove Fear*

The spell's range is reduced to 0, and the area of effect is expanded to a 20' radius circle around the caster, affecting all friendly creatures within the circle at the time the spell is cast.  For the spell's duration, the creatures are immune to normal fear, increasing morale scores by 1 point, if applicable, and gain a saving throw bonus against magical fear equal to the caster's level.  Additionally, those failing may attempt a new save each round to recover and rally.  At the DM's discretion, a character under the effect of this spell may automatically succeed at non-combat tasks that would otherwise be difficult due to fear, such as walking across a plank over a deep chasm.

The reversed spell affects a similar area, and will cause all hostile creatures except those immune to fear, such as undead, to flee at their maximum movement rate for 2 turns if a save vs. spells is failed.


8. Sanctuary (adapted from Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion)


Range: Touch
Duration: 1d6 rounds +1 round per level

For the duration of the spell, any creature attempting to attack or otherwise directly harm the spell recipient must succeed at a saving throw vs. spells.  If the throw fails, the attacker will ignore the recipient in favor of attacking a different target, or some other action.  If the spell recipient attacks, the spell is broken at once, but otherwise it may cast non-offensive spells and take any non-aggressive action.  The recipient can still be harmed by area affect spells.

The reversed spell, Imperil, draws the attention of all hostile creatures toward the affected creature.  Each must make a saving throw vs. spells or seek to attack that creature.  The target cannot hide or become invisible while this spell is in effect; if already invisible that effect is canceled while Imperil lasts, resuming when the spell expires.  Note that Imperil does not make creatures hostile; it only affects those already in combat.

Spells that got the old heave-ho:

Cure Light Wounds, replaced by Cure Wounds.  One healing spell that can be scaled with level makes more sense to me than separate healing spells at various levels.

Detect Magic, which seems to me to be the province of the magic-user rather than the cleric class.

Resist Cold, which was of marginal usefulness at best.  Will be incorporated into the list of 2nd level cleric spells as a reverse of Resist Fire.

A few variations for the basic magic-user

I'm not really a fan of having a thousand sub-classes of magic-user, each with its own spell lists, but I do like to have a few flavorful options.  Here are a few fairly simple ones I've come up with by playing with the rules for memorization and casting.  Only one doesn't use the standard spell lists.

Mage:  This is the archetypal magic-user who learns to cast spells through rigorous study.  The mage must memorize spells, as per the standard rules, but can memorize extra spells per level equal to his or her Intelligence adjustment (minimum of one spell per level that the character can cast, in the case of a magic-user with an Int penalty.)  For example, a 3rd level magic-user, according to the B/X rules, can memorize two 1st level spells and one 2nd level spell.  With Intelligence 16, a +2 bonus, she can memorize four 1st level and three 2nd level spells.  If her Intelligence were 8, she could memorize only one of each.

The mage can actually cast only the number of spells per level per day given in the table, unmodified by Intelligence, so our 3rd level mage can cast two 1st level spells and one 2nd level spell, regardless of her Intelligence.  Any memorized spell can be cast as often as desired within that limit, however.  For example, if the mage has Sleep, Read Languages, Protection From Evil, and Detect Magic memorized, she can cast any one of them twice.  It's not fire and forget; it's rehearse and cast as needed.  The magic-user with higher Intelligence can remember more spells at once, providing greater versatility, without increasing absolute spell-casting power.

Alchemist:  The alchemist casts spells by mixing magical and chemical substances.  Unlike the standard mage, who can choose freely amongst her memorized spells when casting, the alchemist must prepare specific spells in advance.  He may prepare as many spells per level per day as the spell tables prescribe, plus his Intelligence bonus, and may "cast" them all.  If a 3rd level alchemist with Intelligence 16 prepares two Sleep spells, Charm Person, and Detect Magic, then he can cast Sleep twice and the other spells once each.  Each spell so prepared costs 1 sp (or whatever base coin the campaign uses) per spell level.  His concoctions have a very short shelf-life, remaining viable for only one day, after which they become inert, and new ones must be prepared.

An alchemist may carry a supply of extra reagents to prepare spells in the field; each 100 sp worth of reagents weighs 1 pound. 

Spells cast by an alchemist cannot be foiled by magical silence.

Fey-touched:  These magic-users are a breed apart, either tainted with fairy blood, or changelings raised among fairies before returning to human society.  Fey-touched magic-users are innate spell casters, being able to cast any spell in their repertoire, within the limits of the spells per level per day tables.  However, they do not gain bonuses from Intelligence, nor are they able to add new spells to their repertoires by study.  Instead, they begin play knowing two 1st level spells, and gain a new spell at each level of experience, determined randomly from the spell levels the character is currently able to cast.  Reroll duplicates. 

Due to their fey heritage, fey-touched magic-users gain the same immunity to paralysis from the attacks of ghouls that Elves enjoy, as well as the Elven ability to detect secret doors.

Because they need not study to learn spells, fey-touched characters may choose to learn the arts of battle as well, gaining the ability to use any armor or weapon and a d6 Hit Die, and advancing on the Elf experience table.  Such magic-users are limited to 10th level, as an Elf.  (Elves can be considered to be fey-touched spellcasters by default.)  Of course, a fey-touched magic-user can also forego this additional training and focus solely on magic, using the standard magic-user tables without limit, but they still remain curiously unable to learn magic by study as ordinary magic-users do.

White Mage:  Taking a more spiritual path than the standard mage, white witches and wizards are able to learn and cast spells from both the magic-user and cleric spell lists (and druidic spells as well, if those are available in the game.)  Using any spell which causes direct bodily harm, however, will rebound on the caster, causing equal harm; thus such spells are rarely learned or used.  White mages memorize extra spells as standard mages, using either their Intelligence or Wisdom bonus, whichever is lower.